In its judgment in Case C-143/22 | ADDE and Others, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled today that the Return Directive applies to any third-country national who has entered the territory of a Member State without fulfilling the conditions of entry, stay or residence. That also applies when the person concerned has entered that territory even before crossing a border crossing point where such checks are carried out.

The European Commission is proposing today to further extend the temporary protection for people fleeing Russia's aggression against Ukraine from 4 March 2024 to 3 March 2025. This Commission proposal will now have to be adopted by the Council.

The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor is already making it clear that Belgium will not respond positively to the request for relocation of migrants who have arrived in Lampedusa. This position is mainly explained by the shortage of reception places in Belgium.

The Belgian Contact Point to the European Migration Network is looking for an intern to support the team in its mission, including in the framework of the 2024 Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. If you want to expand your knowledge on asylum and migration topics as well as your network in this field, this opportunity may be for you!

The Ombudsman is asking whether the Commission conducted a human rights impact assessment before signing the agreement, if periodic reviews will be conducted during implementation, and if there are criteria for suspending funding in case of human rights violations.

This call for expression of interest is open to all civil society organisations that have experience in the topic "Migrants in Europe today: specific needs, skills and communication for stronger inclusion". They should complete the application form by 14 September.

Frontex revealed today that the number of detections of irregular border crossings at EU’s external borders rose by one fifth (+18%) in the first eight months of 2023 to over 232 350 and that this increase was primarily driven by the number of arrivals through the Central Mediterranean, which remains the main migratory route into the EU. 

The organisation reports a huge increase in the number of vulnerable young asylum seekers who disappear in Belgium. The number of disappearances could double this year, compared to 2022 which had 136 cases.

Today, the Council of State ruled that the use of the extreme emergency procedure was justified and that the decision not to offer shelter to single male asylum seekers violates the right to reception that asylum seekers have by law.

In her 2023 State of the Union Address, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, focused inter alia on migration issues. She underlined that an agreement on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum has never been so close.

Today, the European Migration Network (EMN) Belgium was invited to present the results of an upcoming publication to members of the Flemish Agency for Internal Affairs as well as to take part in a coordination meeting between the four integration contact points in Belgium (for Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels, and the German-speaking community).

As the Big Data for Migration Alliance unveils the “Harnessing Data Innovation for Migration Policy: A Handbook for Practitioners”, the Egmont Institute organizes the handbook launch to discover how non-traditional data sources shape migration understanding.

The first residents have arrived today in the reception center in Alveringem (West Flanders). These are Syrian families who were resettled from Lebanon.

In its judgment in Case T-600/21 | WS and Others v Frontex, the General Court dismissed today the action of a number of Syrian refugees who had brought a claim for compensation before the General Court of the European Union. The applicants claimed that Frontex engaged in improper conduct with regard to them.

The European Union Agency for Asylum just released the latest asylum trends for the period January - June 2023. During the first half of 2023, applications for asylum rose to 519.000, a 28 % increase compared to the first half of 2022. As a result of the increase, many EU+ countries are under pressure with processing applications and protecting those in need.

The European Migration Network (EMN) Belgium was at the European Parliament today for a presentation on “The Power of Labour Mobility Pilot Projects to Support the EU Legal Migration Reform”, organised by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).

Flanders has published a new list of medium-skilled shortage occupations open to migration which enters into force today. The new list has been adapted to the current economic reality and labor market situation - it now contains 29 positions.

Walloon Minister-President Elio Di Rupo has written to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to call for the regularisation of undocumented immigrants capable of working in jobs in short supply, reports L’Echo.

Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor has decided to temporarily stop receiving single males in the national network for the reception of asylum seekers. Through this decision, the Secretary of State intends to anticipate “the growing influx of families and children to absolutely avoid children ending up on the streets in winter.”